Page 55 of Tinsel & Chrome

The West Virginia Chapter’s enforcer, Sampson, approached, asking if I’d walk outside with him to talk in private. Tall and slender, with long dark hair and a long beard, he was covered in ink like most club members.

We walked past the rows of parked motorcycles in the parking lot, stopping beside a big oak tree about twenty yards away.

By that time, I was halfway through my bottle of whiskey.

“What’s so top secret that you have to tell me out here?” I asked.

“You know how the West Virginia Chapter helped the Black Dagger MC wipe out the Soulless Bastards and took in their women to give them protection and a new start in life?”

“Yeah. I hope you made those sons a bitches suffer first.”

“We did and gave them no fucking mercy for what they did to the women they kidnapped and abused. It’s why I wanted to talk to you first before letting your Prez know.”

“Let Zero know what?”

Sampson combed a hand through his long hair, looked dead serious, and sighed. “One of the women we helped escape the Soulless Bastards’ compound says her name is Wren Hughes. She claims to be Zero’s sister.”

He handed me his phone, and I looked at a picture of a thin woman with long blond hair. She was smiling, but it looked forced. Zero had shown me photos of Wren as a teenager, with the face of an angel, but I couldn’t tell if the image on Sampson’s phone was really her.

“It could be her, but I can’t tell just by looking at this pic. I should meet her in person before we say anything to Zero,” I said, then lifted the bottle of whiskey to my mouth and swallowed.

“She’s got a kid too, a little girl. But she hasn’t told us who the father is.”

That was a game-changer. If the woman was who she said she was, then Zero was an uncle.

I handed Sampson back his phone. “Where are you staying?”

“I’ve got her and the kid a hotel room in Berlin, away from all the noise.”

CHAPTER 2

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WREN

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I stared at my reflection in the bathroom mirror and exhaled, my face pale. Sampson was kind enough to buy me a box of hair dye early this morning. My wet hair was dark brown again and combed back. I’d lost weight and looked gaunt, but I dabbed on some lip gloss to look a bit more alive than a walking zombie.

I left the bathroom and sat beside Joy on the hotel bed while she giggled, watching the kid channel. Her kitty cat, Fluffy, was under the covers, sleeping. When she steered her eyes from the TV to me, her little cupid mouth opened with surprise. “You’re hair, Mommy!”

“Do you like it?” I asked

“Yes! It’s brown like mine.”

I hugged and thanked her, then walked over to the window, pulling the curtain back to see the morning sun shining, listening the distant sound of motorcycle pipes.

Sampson drove us from Charleston, West Virginia, to Berlin, Maryland, two days ago and secured a hotel room for Holly and me. Last night he said the VP of the Maryland chapter, Mammoth, would come this morning to meet Joy and me.

Nervous, I fidgeted, pacing back and forth until I heard a knock on the door. Looking through the peephole, I saw Sampson holding a small brown paper bag. I unlocked the door, sliding the bolt open to let him in.

He walked in, smiling. “Wow, you look better with dark hair.”

“Thank you,” I replied meekly, closing and locking the door behind him.

“Here’s some donuts for you and your kid,” he said handing me the bag

I placed the bag on the bed beside Joy, and she happily opened it, grabbing a chocolate donut.